President Karzai won’t sign U.S. deal immediately

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Afghan president Hamid Karzai (left) talks as the head of the Loya Jirga, Sebghatullah Mujaddidi (right), listens during the first day of a meeting of around 2,500 Afghan tribal elders and leaders in Kabul on Thursday. Kabul rejected the council’s request to sign a security deal with the U.S. soon.

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan assembly has called on President Hamid Karzai to sign a security deal with the United States by the end of the year.

The Afghan president says he won’t sign security deal with U.S. immediately, despite council request.

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Members of the Afghan Loya Jirga listen during the first day of a four-day meeting on Saturday.

The 2,500 members of the national consultative council known as a Loya Jirga endorsed the deal Sunday in a resolution. It will enable thousands of American soldiers to stay beyond a 2014 deadline, primarily to train and mentor government security forces struggling to face a resilient Taliban insurgency on their own.

Rahmat Gul/AP

Afghan delegates discuss on the third day of the Loya Jirga, or the consultative council in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday.